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Olympics driving demand for rental housing

Construction workers, Olympic employees pushing seasonal employees for accommodation

The shortage of affordable rental housing in Whistler was brought back into the spotlight earlier this month when six illegal crawl spaces were discovered in Nordic Estates.

And while a lack of housing has always been a topic of concern for the resort town, things are not expected to get better as the Olympics approach.

In fact, according to Marla Zucht, general manager of the Whistler Housing Authority (WHA), the problem will likely become amplified.

“It will become a heightened problem because there will be more employees in town related to hosting the Olympics. So there will be a greater number of workers in town above and beyond the regular number of workforce required to run the resort,” said Zucht.

She said, however, it is hard to predict at this point exactly what the magnitude of the problem will be.

“We are concerned about it. It is definitely on our radar screen. We are trying to put preparations in place. But we are still awaiting from VANOC a better estimation of the number of additional employees that will be in town really related to hosting the Olympics,” said Zucht.

Dick Vollet, vice president for the VANOC workforce, said that it is too early for Olympic organizers to predict how many employees will eventually be working in Whistler, but that very few are expected to move here in the near future.

Vollet added that the organization is working closely with the accommodation group in Whistler on the issue of employee housing.

“Our main focus is to engage the community and make sure we’re doing the right thing as we move workers into the area,” said Vollet.

The Whistler Chamber of Commerce is currently conducting a survey amongst businesses on employee projections leading up to 2010 to get a better idea of exactly how many more beds will be needed.

“Right now what we are tying to do is get a handle on what the numbers are because it is very hard for us to go to the municipality and say ‘we’ve got some housing issues and we are going to need more employee housing’ if we don’t have the numbers,” said Louise Lundy, president of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce.

She added that the combination of two good snow years and the approaching Olympics have already started putting pressure on housing and there is “definitely a lot of couch surfing going on.”

“You also have to factor in that there are so many Olympic-related projects underway right now, and there is so much construction happening. So lots of construction workers are coming in and taking up all the tourism-related employee housing spots,” said Lundy.

She added that the biggest challenge on the housing market is that there will be no additional rental housing built between now and the Olympics, aside from what is already committed.

“It is just not going to happen. There are too many projects going on right now, so we can’t find construction workers,” she said.

New developments slated for construction before 2010 are the WHA’s athlete village building, which will contain 55 units, and the Rainbow Development, which will have 30 rental units above the commercial core, as well as 20 senior rental units.

The chamber and the WHA also recently launched a housing program called H.O.M.E. The program provides landlords with a hassle-free rental experience, in which all the details are taken care of. The idea is that with the chamber and WHA’s credibility backing the rentals that will encourage reluctant homeowners to offer their units for rent.

However, Lundy said that while H.O.M.E. is a valuable program, she does not think it will directly help with the Olympic housing issue, because it will only add a maximum of 100 beds to the market.

Lundy added that the chamber is encouraging businesses to prepare for the housing crunch and other factors associated with the 2010 Games.

“The biggest event on the plant Earth is coming to Whistler. So I think what we are trying to say to businesses is that you really need to have a plan,” said Lundy.

The 2006 WHA Employers Survey reported that in 2005, 30 per cent of Whistler businesses failed to find enough staff. The number two reason was lack of housing and affordability, just behind not enough applicants.

Employers in Whistler that currently offer housing to the employees are Whistler-Blackcomb, Fairmount Chateau Whistler, Delta Whistler Resort, The Grocery Store, McDonald’s, and Westin Resort & Spa.

However, Michelle Graham, director of human resources at the Fairmount, said that the hotel is not currently changing its policy on employee housing.

“Quite honestly, right now, it is business as usual. The Olympics is a long way off, and we have no idea at this point what our employee situation will be,” said Graham.

Monica Hayes, director of communications for the Westin, added that while 2010 is not really that far away, it is a little premature for the hotel to provide a list of their ventures and how they are tackling the issue.